Mining of rock is performed using a variety of methods. One method includes drilling and blasting. The material loosely separated by the blasting is removed using trains or other motorized equipment which operate along a mine tunnel. Another method employs commercially available high energy hydraulic picks for breaking the rock, then removing the material with such motorized equipment.
Other methods employ large mining vehicles which tunnel or bore their way through the rock. Large mining machines for mining or forming a tunnel are shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,445 to Winberg; 3,754,790 to Mappin et al.; 4,312,541 to Spurgeon; 4,363,519 to Howard; and 4,486,050 to Snyder. Such tunneling machines are designed to excavate tunnels of constant cross-sectional size, which are relatively straight or excavated with large radius turns. The tunnels are generally designed to transport water, provide ventilation or move traffic. The tunneling machines integrate gathering and loading devices for handling the broken and fragmented material, and have conveying mechanisms for moving the fragmented material from the working face to the back of the tunneling machine.
Some veins of rock are not readily mineable by use of any of the equipment described in the foregoing patents. For example, some veins vary from a few inches to eight or ten feet wide and wander in a serpentine way through the earth. The machinery described in the foregoing patents does not appear to be readily adaptable to mine a narrow meandering vein.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a mining vehicle which is operable in narrow width mine tunnels, capable of serpentining its way along a curvy vein of rock, and enables easy removal of the broken rock which is mined by the vehicle.